Better than Davos to the Stelvio Pass ?

Ice_warmer

Ice_warmer

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eastern ieurope
Found this: The Transfagarasan, never driven on in it but just look at it:

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I think it can rival the road found by the Top Gear crew, but i really don't think it's acutally better.
 
Ha, it's one of the most dangerous roads out there, in the summer it's really icy and in the winter it's literally impossible to cross.
 
Davos to stelvio you say...

Davos to stelvio you say...

Well mates, the Transfagarasan is rather interesting, but from what I hear it's full of potholes which ruin the rather good experience that you could have on that road. In the winter it is actually closed because it's in the bloody mountains and it is not worth it to send men to move the snow about because in a glimpse of an eye it's right back. I think it's only open from May or June and if you can be bothered to look around here, you'll see that the Stelvio pass is closed in the winter too.

I hope I can get to the Stelvio pass and to the Transfagarasan even though the Transfagarasan seems a more likely opportunity on the short term.
See ya mates.
 
from some pictures i've seen it's quite in good shape, bit bumpy, but practicable ... it seems

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the thing...

the thing...

I can't tell you anything about the state of the road but, I've heard some lorry drivers saying on tv that it's not that good and you cannot judge a road like that from a few pictures taken "sometime"...

Oh and the thing I remembered last time...there's way more traffic on the Transfagarasan that on the Stelvio pass which would discourage any "brave" driving and corner cutting because, well you could meet a lorry coming the other way which would most probably ruin your Lamborghini/Porsche/Aston/whatever...

Cheers
 
liviu.dnistran said:
from what I hear it's full of potholes which ruin the rather good experience that you could have on that road
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Seeing as to how Im from Romania (currently residing in Canada) I went for a visit there this past summer. On the way back from Fagaras to Capatineni (where my uncle's cottage is) we took the Trans-Fagarasan due to the fact that it is dubbed as the most beautiful road in Romania. I had never been on it, but my uncle had (he drove the entire time).

Supposedly a week or two before we went on the road, rock slides had caused road closures on the Transfarasan for a couple days (since it takes time to get heavy machinery up there in the mountains to move the huge rocks off of the road) which ended up closing the entire road down. In contrast to this, pretty much all of the potholes had been filled in that summer, so the road was not at all bumpy - from what I remember. It was actually very clear and fast going on the way down, although the trip up got to be extremely slow due to tourist traffic up at the top of the mountain where Balea Lac (Lake Balea) is.

Im not sure if the Transfagarasan would be good at all to drive agressive through. You really have to take your time or you'll crash, or worse tumble down the mountain, as there are rarely any side supports...

As for traffic, it depends. It really does depend on the day you are going. A weekday I do believe will hold far less traffic in comparison to a Sunday evening when everyone is rushing home from their weekend-getaway. :?

Ive got a few pictures of the place & movies.... If anyone is interested... It's more scenic pictures though, and Im sure you could find better road condition pictures of this on the internet or better movies on youtube.

As Liviu mentioned in the previous post, I wouldn't recommend any corner-cutting on this road... Liviu, are you Romanian? Such a Romanian name... haha (edit: nevermind, I see you're from Cluj. Kinda funny since the Astra we were renting when we took the Transfagarasan had a Cluj license plate)

Might I also add: The pictures that you guys have up are only one side of the mountain. I went up that side. It was pretty slow going in my opinion... Then again we stopped like 5 times on the way up. On the other side it was a lot faster, although at times there were sheep on the road, as shepards live in the mountains where they tend for their sheep... haha

Hope this helps. :lol:

Feel free to ask any questions. I'll do my best to answer...
 
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well cousin cristian...i too have been to the Transfagarasan and there is constant road repair and potholes...my name is Stelvio, so therefore i strongly think that the Stelvio Pass is the best =]
 
Interesting...

Interesting...

It's nice to know that the road is in better shape than I heard it was.This makes me think more about going there this summer in my super duper Daewoo Espero 1.5 GLX :D.

I do not want to say that our road is the best but it is worth taking into account. It's not like it's dull or anything, it's just underrated maybe.

P.S. I'm from Vatra Dornei actually but I study in Cluj.
 
liviu.dnistran said:
It's nice to know that the road is in better shape than I heard it was.This makes me think more about going there this summer in my super duper Daewoo Espero 1.5 GLX :D.

I do not want to say that our road is the best but it is worth taking into account. It's not like it's dull or anything, it's just underrated maybe.
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Well, as Stelvio mentioned, the road is under constant repair pretty much... Ive never been able to understand this: Romanian construction goes in these steps:

(Im sure non-Romanians will understand this as well)

1. The thing breaks down, say a pot hole emerges
2. The local authorities are informed
3. They do nothing
4. Someone crashes due to the pothole
5. They decide to fill it up
6. They send the crew to the pothole, but of course they're all equipped with super handy beer bottles filled with alcoholic beverages
7. Instead of fixing the potholes they drink and tell jokes, having a smoke every now and then
8. Soon enough, what should have been a short hour of work has turned into two weeks of beer and story-telling...
9. The construction crew finally decide to fill the hole in, but of course the money needed for the construction materials has all been used up on beer so they must now resort to cheaper quality materials
10. They fill the hole up using the cheapest materials they can find at the nearest market
11. The potholes are finally fixed! too bad the cheap asphalt wears down in a couple weeks... :rolleyes:

So, they might have been fixed when I went, but knowing Romanian construction, the holes have most likely re-appeared due to such things such as rock slides, traffic and corrosion from rain and snow... So dont expect good roads when and if you go :blink:

Id rather much go there for the scenery. It's truely breathtaking :)

& Im from the capital, Bucuresti, although I live in Canada now...
 
hahahaha...im definately w/ CCristian!
the roads aren't THAT! bad...they're definately driveable.
When I went I was in a Daewoo kalos (the equivilant of a chevrolet aveo in north america).
I live in Canada as well! About 5minute drive from YOU CCristian!
 
that's that

that's that

Since I figure we're done with this Transfagarasan thing, I should point out that Austria has some very nice roads in the mountains, even though Jeremy suggested they don't. They are very smooth indeed and would have suited James and his Aston rather well, but that aside they are worth taking a look.
 
[YOUTUBE]GNmhrxEqqco[/YOUTUBE]
 
As i've said before, my favorite stomping grounds isnt some mountain pass, but the Interstate 95 in Miami, lots of lanes, close walls (police cant hide and laser you) well lit.

Perfect for blasting down with your friends in camaros and firebirds going 150MPH like idiots!

[youtube=yJE4FXVmbkM]YEA![/youtube]
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
As i've said before, my favorite stomping grounds isnt some mountain pass, but the Interstate 95 in Miami, lots of lanes, close walls (police cant hide and laser you) well lit.

Perfect for blasting down with your friends in camaros and firebirds going 150MPH like idiots!
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Of course you like long straight highways...
This confirms what Jeremy said about you americans...If you were brought in to a place like the Stelvio pass or the Transfagarasan or any road for that matter that has even a hint of a decent bend in it you will die of shock.
I bet you any money that no true motorhead likes your highways because the fact of the matter is, they don't really pose any problem. Doing 80-100 kmh down a bendy road, that will give you some thrills.
Oh and those Camaro's and Thinderbirds are really useless on the roads we have here because they can't go left or right at more than 5 kmh because thy will most definetly spin out of control and kill you. And that's not even remotely interesting...
 
MattD1zzl3 said:
As i've said before, my favorite stomping grounds isnt some mountain pass, but the Interstate 95 in Miami, lots of lanes, close walls (police cant hide and laser you) well lit.

Perfect for blasting down with your friends in camaros and firebirds going 150MPH like idiots!

[youtube=yJE4FXVmbkM]YEA![/youtube]
Click to expand...

I know it's all you got in flat-as-a-pancake, roads-like-graph-paper Florida, but I'm sorry, that looks so :yawn: And 150mph on an interstate? :blink: That's pretty bloody stupid.
 
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